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Thursday, October 28, 2010

1) As many of you know, I'm job hunting after moving to Rochester. So, I've put my resume off to the left side of the blog at the top. I've also started another blog, which essentially is just my resume at: www.MikeKrausResume.blogspot.com in case you know of anyone hiring.

2) Like me on Facebook is also to the left.

Rich, Megan and I headed over to Mount Hope Cemetery for some historic Rochester fun. If you're in town or interested in more info, you should check out Friends of Mount Hope Cemetery at www.fomh.org/, which gave us our tour. It's the first municipal cemetery in the United States and this is a pic of the gatehouse.

Since cemeteries use to double as city parks, this gazebo was a place to hang out

Some fall colors with Mt. Hope's "permanent residents"

Rich and Megan listening to the tour guide

Hiram Sibley. It's not the department store guy Rochestarians. This is the guy who started Western Union Telegraph.

George Ellwanger's grave. Very fitting site since George use to own the property across the street, which grew pretty trees like you see here through the Ellwanger and Barry Company.

The grave of Bausch and Lomb. You know, the eye care folks

Under the tree

The chapel. We were here for a couple hours and didn't even see half of this place. It's 198-acres with a bunch of other people of local and national importance including George Washington's drummer boy...

Rachel had to go home sick, which meant I had babysitting duties last week. So, once we completed her homework, we played Candyland, Barbie, fixed a projector, and had an intellectual conversation about Spongebob Squarepants

Rachel as the afro-airplane!

Megan and I went to St. Bonaventure University near the southern border of New York state to watch a soccer game with her friend Liz, who's sister is the "Bonnie's" assistant coach

The Bonnies beat Dayton

Liz and Megan

See this Ewok/Gremlin looking thing? It's named Gertie and we took care of her for a few days and sometimes she liked it because we played with her. Sometimes she didn't when she seemed to try to spite me by peeing on the floor. GERTIE!!!

Monday, October 18, 2010

1) Thanks to everyone for wishing me a happy birthday and all. An extra special thanks goes out to my new family. Dick and Marianne for the dinner and ice cream cake and everything else over the years. And, of course to Rich and Rachel, for letting us take up space in your house and watch everything from Antiques Roadshow to Jersey Shore. Thanks!!!

2) On the left, you'll notice a Facebook "like" button. I'm not 100% sure how useful this is. It may be an easier way for you to get updates on the blog. It may just end up being a pain. But, if you like Mike Kraus: The Blog give it a try and we can see how it works together!!!

And now, for the show...

The theme of this past weekend was "agriculture of Upstate New York. Megan is showing you some of the fine produce of the Rochester area

For my birthday, Rachel made me a card showing us holding hands because we are friends.

The Penfield Hots Garbage Plate. One of the most dangerous meals known to mankind. It's everything you like on one plate that will make you hate yourself when you eat it all.

The Apple Tree Inn, http://appletreeinn.us/, in Brockport, which is just west on Rochester. We met up with Pete and Sarah Marche here for an "afternoon of apples." You really can't go wrong with any meal here. Collectively, we had the salad with some kind of walnut apple dressing, the pumpkin spice soup, vegetable mac and cheese, "Our Famous Chicken Pot Pie," and a couple of other things. All of them were great. It was great by itself, not in comparison to the previous garbage plate...

What do you do when you see an apple you want high up on a tree? Ride someone's shoulders of course!

Moments after this shot, I had a decision to make: capture an iconic image of Pete standing at a 45 degree angle with his wife flying through the air or catch said wife for safety. I think helping catch Sarah was a wise decision since I don't want to alienate the few friends I have here.

Well... So much for not wanting to alienate myself. I have to show this pic of Sarah climbing the tree like Tarzan going after an apple? What's strange is I don't see any apples on this tree...

A few bags of apples later, a few other purchased fruits and veggies, and an apple donut later, we are all set. Thanks Sarah and Pete!

Here's Rachel "Tachel" at Wickham Farms, http://www.wickhamfarms.com/, which is some kind of a farm/farmer's market/amusement park/roadside attraction. It's a pretty popular place to bring the neighborhood kids and an interesting way to preserve some of the agriculture which is being depleted by the quickly expanding suburban developments. This is a bunch of kids of the Jumping Pillow

More of Tachel on the Jumping Pillow

Whoops...

One last bounce into the sand...

I believe this sheep is named Molly. Maybe the goat was Molly. Maybe there was no Molly at all...

Little Jerry Seinfeld knows how to take care of himself

Tachel milking the wooden cow. Just for piece of mind, don't look under the board on top of the cow.

Megan looking over the pumpkins that will soon be painted and carved

Tachel running through the little corn maze. There's a bigger corn maze, which is a 30-45 minute experience

Tachel the Scarecrow...

That's all from the hamlet of Rochester. Thanks again for everything involving my birthday. Also, don't forget to click the "like" button on the left.

Monday, October 11, 2010

Noah and Frances should be back from Hawaii now. Hope you guys had a great time on your honeymoon!

We've been "spooked." I guess there's a neighborhood tradition out here in Penfield that you "spook" your neighbors by placing a bucket of Halloween goodies on their porch, a ghost on their door, and running away. Then you are suppose to do the same to two other neighbors. Much friendlier Halloween tradition than what I'm use to in the Midwest...

Bucket-o-Goodies

As I have some time on my hands these days, I was put in charge of the operation

I've been in Rochester about two weeks and I'm already making arts & crafts for the neighbor kids. I'm a minivan away from being a "soccer mom."

My niece, Rachel, getting ready to go spooking

Here we are spooking what turned out to be the home of the old guy from the movie Up. That's what happens when you don't know your neighbors.

The City of Rochester was sponsoring tours of the city called "River Romance" this past weekend. So, lots of free activities to introduce me to my new home. Although, I'm not sure what the "Romance" part was. Was it so I would fall in love with the river? Anyway, here we are under the Driving Park Bridge on the way to the Lower Falls

Driving Park Bridge

The Lower Falls

SINGLE RAINBOW! WHAT DOES IT MEAN!

There's a somewhat famous painting of these falls by Frederic Edwin Church at the Los Angeles Art Museum

The tour guide with a family from Webster, NY, which is just northeast of Rochester

The Middle Falls, which "are the most elusive attraction in all of Rochester" according to a father trying to engage his bored kids. Too bad they built a dam on top of them...

From the bridge over the Middle Falls on the dam

The Seat of Remembering and Forgetting. Not sure what this is really suppose to show. It's the faces and hands of kids from a nearby by school for the deaf. It looks like a representation of people stranded in hell. Maybe a mass entrapment of kids in carbonite with Han Solo?

The Charlotte Genesee Lighthouse at Rochester Harbor on Lake Ontario

Inside the lighthouse they have an interesting little museum. This depicts a local battle against the British. Apparently, the locals tricked the Brits into thinking they had more soldiers by having them march around a building several times. Or something like that...

Would you fight this guy?

Up the lighthouse!

Looking down from the top of the lighthouse stairs

Megan keeping watch over the harbor and Lake Ontario

Evidence I climbed up a 40 foot tower

Old railroad bridge

Lantern for the lighthouse

Ontario Beach County Park.

The beach use to have an amusement park. A few things remain including this Dentzel Carousel.

Carousel organ

Some woodcarving of someone

Someone I'm probably related to...

The very Art Deco Charlotte High School.

Checked out the Carl Peters WPA murals at the high school. They are about 19 feet tall and recently restored. They are very nice, but the photos don't do them justice as the lighting in the space was terrible

That's all I have for now. Back to job hunting and making some lunch...